Another old post: Travel Guides

I had the great fortune of taking a picture of a couple of Mrs. Steers' travel guides.

Mrs. Steers has numerous travel guides.   Sam told me about the two that they took with them to 1880s London.  I was able to take a picture of them.

She had marked several pages about London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Whitechapel, and Madam Tussaud's Exhibition.

Great stuff!

An Old Post from The Time Savers Club

I have retired The Time Savers Blog.   Too much to juggle.   Write the books...  Post on the blog...  I chose to write the books.   However, as I clear away the blog, I just have to re-post some of the posts here.   So here's one...

A couple of weeks ago, I had the honor of having lunch with Xavier Graff to talk about the completion of book one.  He had some interesting comments.

CSM:  What do you think?  You've read it.  Did I get it right?

XG:  From my point of view, you did, dear.  I have always thought our club's adventures and stories should be recorded, although I never thought they would be novelized.

CSM: Great.  I'm happy to hear I got the story right.   I need to write on my other blog about what I learned.  I can't believe I wrote a book.  Be it good or not, I did it.   I am grateful to the club for their support and choosing me to write it.

XG:  You're welcome, love.  You just needed some confidence.  Your writing will improve over time.   You have started on book two, yes?

CSM:  Yep. I think I have everything. I need to clarify some stuff, so I need to talk to Sam and Mrs. Steers. Otherwise, I have started.  My goal is 6 months to the first draft.

XG: I think that is a reasonable goal. I find it interesting to look back at the club's first introduction to Sam. I remember the first time I laid eyes on him.  He was talking to Lottie on her front porch.  I only saw him a moment.  He looked so young.  Of course, now the events in your trilogy are over and we've had other adventures since then.  He is a wonderful addition to the club.  Hopefully, he will learn his true life's goal.

CSM:  Interesting.  Yes, my readers aren't aware that the books are based on recent past events.  Mainly from last year.  You have a long history with club, don't you? I've seen the name Graff in early records of the club's archives. Weren't you younger than Sam when you got involved?

XG:  Yes, I was seven.  Was I ever so young?  My family has been involved with the club for several generations.  They have fabulous stories to tell.   My Uncle Griff likes to tell about my first initiation.   We traveled back to the French Revolution.   I saw Marie Antoinette beheaded.  Dear lord, it was awful to watch.  I cried and cried.  Oh lord, did I cry.  She was very beautiful.  People cheered.  I was so upset.

CSM:  You must have been terrorized at such a young age.

XG:  I was.  I had a several dreadful nights afterwards.  I didn't sleep.   Now, I have an infatuation with her.

CSM:  Cool.  Well, I'm glad we got together for lunch and chat.   I think I will schedule another interview with you.   It sounds like you could have lots of stories.

XG:  Sounds good to me, sweets.

I had an Epiphany this week.

So, I have to ask myself this question. Am I ready for a relationship? What am I looking for? What do I want to do right now? I've turned away from my career, now I just have a job. I've poured a lot of time into my books. And now, I'm back out in the world, trying to find... what? What is that I want?   My needs are filled, but what do I want?

 

I think this week I had my Epiphany.

 

I'm scared. Why start a relationship when all I will do is mess it up and send the person packing? I'll fall in love and they'll leave... just like everyone else that I loved. I've had a few dates since I headed back out into the dating scene. Merrily skipping along, not really believing that I would meet someone.  All the dates went no where.  One kind of interesting, one drunk, and one "woe is me."

 

But, I think I really need to revisit the above-mentioned statement:   "...just like everyone else that I loved."   Meaning my parents.  It's almost been a year since my Father died.   I miss my parents.   I actually had the very strong desire of driving to their house to see them... Only to realize that they were gone.  It took several moments to calm myself down to remember this.  I no longer had the luxury of seeing them.  For a few brief moments, I lost it.  I mean mentally lost it.  I had never experienced anything like it.

 

I just paid my Father's last taxes.  That was it.  It's really over.  My parents are really gone.

 

I think this week I had my Epiphany.

 

CSM  

From Cleo to Edgar: A Time Savers Club Adventure, Book Two

It's been a few weeks since last I sat and wrote.   I've been making a few more changes that have consumed my time and I have neglected my writing and my books.  So, if you have not heard, the second book of my trilogy is available on Amazon.

Book two didn't take as long to write, even though it was longer.   That made me feel good.   Now, I'm going to challenge myself further to get book three done even faster.

I was asked how I came up with the idea for my trilogy... Well, here's the story.

I was laying in bed one August morning, thinking about how my job was unsatisfying and how I needed a challenge.  For some reason, I reflected on something my Father had once said to my Mother, who was an avid reader.  He told she should write books.   While there in bed, I thought to myself "Mother, why didn't you write a book?"   Not more that two seconds later, this popped into my head.  "Why don't you write a book?"   Hmmm...  Was that my Mother speaking to me from the great beyond?  Maybe.   I decided to write a short story. 

The idea for the plot itself came from my love of history and mysteries.   Naturally, what young geek of a kid like I was wouldn't be interested in Jack the Ripper.  Where the names came from I don't really remember.   I do remember lots of notes, 3x5 cards posted on my bedroom door as "the plot began to thicken."   How do I get from here to there... Well, you create a cast of characters, deepen the plot, and add a pinch of humor.  And voila... There you have it.  In a nutshell.  

(Note to self:  Avoid clichés.)

Now, it's time to get to book three.

CSM

 

For Carrie -- The Good, the Bad, and the WTH!

Why do bad things happen to good people?  Why do good things happen to bad people?  Why does Allah/God/Buddha/Fate/Whoever allow things to happen at all?  Personally, I like to keep it simple:  Things happen to people.  It's neither bad nor good, it's just your perception of the situation.   A bad person may not really be bad.  You only think they are bad.  But remember, you've never seen their life as a whole.


Carrie, I hear ya!   I know exactly what you are saying and thinking.  I've sought the answer for years. I would try to do the right thing.  Try to be the best person I could be.  Give whenever possible.  Help whenever I could.  Go the extra mile to make the world a better place.  Leave something behind that someone else could use.  But no matter how much good I did, the bad always seemed to follow.  The peaks and valleys of life.  God's way of mixing things up.

Thinking back to my Mother, why did she get cancer?  Did she do something bad? My Father was given a hard luck of the draw.  What did he do?   Was it something he said?   What?  What was it?

Carrie, the only conclusion that I have ever come to is this...  You don't get to know... at least for now.  You can only trust that Allah/God/Buddha/Fate/Whoever knows what they are doing.  That it's for some unknown reason that they have allowed this to happen. I've run circles looking for answers.  Praying.  Begging.  Just tell me why!  I demand an answer!  I've spent a lot of time wondering, but ultimately no answer ever comes.

Except this...  I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out the answers.  

Allah/God/Buddha/Fate/Whoever throws wrenches into the works to derail you.  To see how strong you are.  To see how you will accept what is or was happening.  Is it fair?  No.  Is it life?  Yes.  Allah/God/Buddha/Fate/Whoever gives you both the good and the bad.  And no one escapes.  You may think it's just you, but it isn't.
 
Carrie, you can only assume that Allah/God/Buddha/Fate/Whoever wants you to go with the flow.  No matter how much you hate it.  And believe me, you will hate it. It's part of the growing-up process that everyone has or will go through.

Sometimes, you just sit back and say "WTH?", then have to let it go.   Otherwise, you will go crazy trying to figure it out.


CSM

Now on Amazon: From Cleo to Edgar: A Time Savers Club Adventure Book Two

And now a year later, From Cleo to Edgar:  A Time Savers Club Adventure Book Two is available on Amazon!

 

Picking up where book one left off, Sam and Mrs. Steers travel to Ancient Egypt where he witnesses the death of Cleopatra.  Meanwhile, The Time Savers Club do their best to keep Sam protected from The Shifters, a dangerous group lead by Dr. Herkeimer, a mad man determined to change history.  A trip back to 1849 Baltimore to see the final moments of Edgar Allen Poe leaves Sam wondering if he wants to be involved with the club nevermore.

It was great fun getting the book to this point, but the work doesn't end here.  I've kept you hanging once again...   Now it's time to begin book three.

 

Alone at Christmas

The holiday season is underway.  Halloween and Thanksgiving have passed and now Christmas is speeding towards me, then a whole New Year.

What will it be like?   Waking up Christmas morning with no presents to open, piled under a glowing Christmas tree.  Santa didn't slip in during the night to leave a Target gift card.  A broken family scattered across the country, all beginning new traditions for their holiday season.

I will wake up on Christmas Day in my own bed in my own home, probably alone, probably sleeping in.  I wonder how I will react.  Will I cry?  Will I treat it like any other day of the week?  A quiet day at home watching Christmas movies? Fixing a small Christmas dinner?  I don't know yet.

In all my years, I have never spent Christmas anywhere but "at home" with my parents.   Not my current home, but the one where I grew up.   The one where my Mother would be making chili.  My Father would be preparing for his morning role as Santa.  Waiting on the rest of the family to arrive.   Visitors stopping by with baked goods.  Looking at the chosen Christmas decor for the year.

Christmas is here, but it doesn't feel like the season.  I think I may be numbing myself for that morning.  Keeping my mind occupied with other activities like book two and three, getting rid of dusty stuff sitting around my apartment, changing my whole outlook on life.

I can hardly wait for the New Year.  A new beginning.  2014.   The year 2013 will be behind me.  I can start even more anew.  Focusing on the two most important goals I have ever challenged myself with: first, complete book three and one other, and second, find that someone to spend my life with.

I have deep faith that I will succeed.  If I survived 2008 and now 2013, then I can survive anything.

CSM